Unnanābhī

A spider as big as a chariot wheel that lived in a cave in Mount Cittakūṭa. During the rains the geese who lived on the mountain entered his cave for shelter. Every month the spider would make a web, each thread of which was as thick as a cow’s halter, at the entrance of the cave. At the end of the rains a young goose, who had been given two portions of food to make him strong would break the web and the geese would fly away. Once the rains lasted five months and the geese, having no food, were forced to eat their eggs and then their young. When the time came for them to fly away, none of them were strong enough to break the web and the spider sucked the blood of them all. That was the end of the Dhataraṭṭha geese. J.v.469‑70.